


A Surprising Christmas

by bigbadbatswife



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Nothing graphic dont worry, Reader-Insert, Serious Injuries, romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:29:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28317528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigbadbatswife/pseuds/bigbadbatswife
Summary: When an unconscious and bloodied Bat landed on your fire escape, you really didn’t except your life to take such a sudden, but welcomed, change.
Relationships: Batman/Reader, Bruce Wayne/Reader
Kudos: 74





	A Surprising Christmas

It was a couple of weeks after New Year’s, when you first met him. You had come home after a very long and very tiring day, had a quick shower, had some dinner and had gone straight to bed. 

A very loud thump, coming from the fire escape just outside your window, woke you up. It was quickly followed by several others. A quick look at the clock on your nightstand let you know it was just past midnight. Afraid it was someone trying to break into your apartment (for what though, you didn’t know), you reached for your phone and got ready to call the police. 

You dialled the first couple of numbers and waited, listening intently for anymore noise, just in case it was potentially a false alarm. You didn’t want to waste anyone’s time and talking on the phone gave you major anxiety anyway, so if you could avoid it, then you certainly would. 

When no further noise came, you turned your phone off and slowly got up from your bed. If it wasn’t from someone looking to break into an apartment, then what the hell had made that noise? A cat, perhaps? You knew at least one of your neighbours kept a couple, but in all your time living here, you had never heard them make a noise like that.

Still afraid that you were potentially still going to die (this was Gotham, after all), you grabbed the pepper spray that sat on your dresser before going toward the window. The sight you were met with was definitely not the sight you had been expecting.

Laying unconscious and badly injured on your fire escape is none other than Gotham’s very own Dark Knight. You’ve read the stories and seen the pictures on the news and the internet, but never once did you think you would ever actually see the cowled hero with your own eyes. Especially in this state.

While the entire thing was completely surreal to you, you didn't let it distract you from the fact that the guy’s going to end up dying if you don’t take any action. You discarded your pepper spray to the side and opened up the window.

As you, with great difficulty, dragged Batman’s unconscious body into your apartment, you considered what a bad idea this actually was. If the person who had done this to him was still around, then you had certainly just put yourself in their crosshairs by helping him. Well, it was too late now. Now you had to make sure he didn’t end up dying in your apartment.

After you had gotten him to your sofa, you ran back toward your bedroom to shut the window and grab your phone. You were careful of the trail of blood that now led from your bedroom to your living room, and for the first time since moving in you were thankful for that your apartment had hardwood flooring rather than carpet. Wood was going to be so much easier to clean than carpet. 

Phone in hand, you flicked on the lights and headed back to where you had left Batman. You quickly scrolled through your contacts list. Once you found Molly’s contact, you immediately hit the call button. Molly was a nurse, so if anyone could help you, it was her.

“Come on, come on. Pick up, pick up,” you muttered as you listened to the tone. A few agonising seconds passed before she picked up.

“ _Y/N, do you know what time it is?_ ” she asked groggily. 

“I do and I’m sorry, but I didn’t know who else to call.” 

As fast and as calmly as you possibly could, you explained to her what had just transpired in the past few minutes. You were pleasantly surprised by how little your voice shook as you spoke.

“ _Okay, since he’s a vigilante the hospital is going to be out of the question,”_ Molly said more to herself than to you. _“Right, I’m going to grab my gear and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Here’s what I need you to do until I get there._ ”

Following Molly’s advice, you grabbed a couple of towels and began to put pressure on the worst injury he had, which was a large gash to his side. Blood was quick to to seep into the towel and you soon found yourself having to grab the other.

“Come on, don’t die on me,” you said as you noticed his breathing was starting to become more shallow.

An eternity later and you finally heard the sound of your front door opening. After being friends for basically ever, you and Molly had exchanged keys awhile ago and you were never more grateful for that.

“Shit, he really doesn’t look too good,” she said as she entered your living room and set her bag down. You nodded in agreement. Ever since you had pulled him inside he had started to look worse and worse than when you had first seen him. She ushered you away from him, removed the towel and got to work on cleaning and stitching his wounds. 

Since you weren’t going to be much of any help just standing around and watching, you decided to get gather up the towels you had used, so you could get rid of them. As well as to clean off the blood, you had gotten on your hands. By the time you were done throwing the towels into several carrier bags and discarding them in the dumpster outside, Molly was finishing up stitching his last wound. 

“Do you think he’s going to make it?” you asked as she began to pack up her bag. 

“Honestly? I really don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “His injuries, while not as deep as I originally thought, are extensive. It’s impossible to know just how much blood he’s lost. I can’t check him for a head injury because of his cowl. Not to mention we can’t take him to the hospital for proper care.”

You nodded in understanding. Things were not looking good for the Dark Knight. You were about to say something, when she continued.

“If he can make it through the next forty-eight hours, then I’d say he’s got a good chance. If not… Well, you know.” 

“Unfortunately. Well, it’s a good thing I’ve been saving up my sick days from work and have an addiction to caffeine,” you said with a very small smile, attempting to lighten the heavy atmosphere that had taken hold of the room.

“Right, if his condition gets worse, call me immediately. Other than that, all you can really do is monitor his condition and keep an eye on those injuries, in case of infection.” 

After you had thanked Molly for coming by so late and the two of you had said your goodbyes, you went into your kitchen and began to brew yourself some coffee. This was going to be a long forty-eight hours.

  
  


Over the next couple of days, when you weren’t having a power nap, you watched Batman like a hawk. During that time, you were pleased to note that his breathing was certainly stronger and, so far, no infection had set in. It looked like Batman was going to be alright! Which was great news because you really didn’t know how you were going to explain to the cops, or Gotham’s other resident vigilantes, why Batman was dead in the middle of your living room.

Speaking of Gotham’s other vigilantes, during the first couple hours of your watch, you had surfed the internet for those websites and social media pages that tracked every sighting. Your idea was that there might be a way to contact one of them. After all, anyone who wasn’t living underneath a rock knew that from Nightwing to Red Hood, they all worked with Batman from time to time. So if anyone could make sure that he would survive, it was them right? They had the medical equipment to do so? But your search had been completely fruitless, as it seemed the only way to contact them was to be in danger while they were close enough to do something about it. None of them had a handy bat signal for themselves. Not to mention, if the sites were to be believed, none of them were in Gotham right now anyway.

Since Batman was now out of the woods and would, hopefully, wake up soon, you decided that it should be safe enough for you to make a quick trip down to the convenience store. You’ll only be gone for an hour, so you’re sure he’ll be fine during that time. 

Before you leave, in case he wakes up while you’re out, you write out a note explaining what had happened and leave it on the coffee table. Alongside a bottle of water, since you reckon he’ll be thirsty when he comes to.

When you got back to your apartment, you found a window open and your living room empty. Batman was gone. The water bottle had been left untouched, but the note was gone as well. At least now you knew Batman was definitely going to be okay. 

After that, you thought the only way you would ever see Batman again, would be through a screen. So imagine your surprise, a few weeks later, when you were chilling in your bed with a book, you heard someone knock on your window. 

It made you jump out of your bed and grab your pepper spray. But much like before, it wasn’t needed. Perched on the railing of the fire escape, his cape billowing to the side, and looking every bit as terrifying as you would expect from him.

You just sort of stood there as your mind tried to register the fact that Batman had actually come back to your apartment. Sure you had saved his life and everything, but once he had disappeared from your apartment, you hadn’t expected anything else to come from the surreal encounter. Living in Gotham though, you supposed you should have expected different.

“Can I come in?”

His voice, though muffled through the glass, snapped you out of your shock.

“Uh, yeah! Of course!” What were you going to do? Say no to Batman?

You, once again, discarded the spray bottle to the side and hurried over to open the window. You stepped out of the way and Batman stepped into your apartment. He surveyed your bedroom, which seemed more out of habit rather than him looking for anything in particular, before turning his gaze back to you.

Unsure of what exactly you should say in this sort of situation, you stayed silent. After all, what exactly did you say when Batman was standing in the middle of your bedroom? It wasn’t like you could google the answer. Fortunately you didn’t have to figure out what to say first.

“I wanted to thank you for saving my life. There’s not many who would’ve risked themselves to do so,” he said.

Batman came all this way back, just to say thank you? To say that was unexpected was certainly an understatement.

“Yeah, no problem! Didn’t seem right to just leave you there to die,” you replied, gesturing toward the fire escape. “Besides, could you imagine trying to explain that to the cops? Really doesn’t look good.” 

“Indeed.” You got the feeling he was about to say something else when his hand came up to the side of his cowl. 

“Yes? Right, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Looks like you’re needed somewhere, huh?” you asked once he had lowered his hand again.

“I usually am,” he replied as he headed back toward the window. 

“Hey, Batman!” you called after him. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at you. “Stay safe, alright? I don’t want to have to save you again,” you said with a small smile.

It was hard to tell, but you swore you saw the corner of Batman’s mouth twitch ever so slightly. 

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to.” And with that, he was gone.

You shut the window and returned to your bed, replaying the encounter over in your head. You were sure that nothing was ever going to top this last few weeks.

Oh, but how wrong you were.

Several months later, you were walking home from work. You were passing by an alley when you heard a pained noise come from it, that stopped you in your tracks. Your self preservation told you just keep walking. Whatever it was, wasn’t worth it and you’d be safer just leaving it to someone else to deal with. Meanwhile the good samaritan in you told you to go and investigate and see if you could help. That and something about the noise sounded rather familiar.

So against your better judgement once again, you trailed down the dark alley and toward where another pained filled grunt came from. 

“Hello?” you called out. 

“You again?” an all too familiar gruff voice replied. Shrouding himself in the shadows of the alley was Batman. He was doubled over, leaning against one of the walls and clutching his side. You had lived in Gotham your entire life and had not met Batman once and now, not even six months later and you had met him three times. What were the chances of that?

You sighed. “What did I say?” 

“You’re not saving me,” he stated as you came closer.

“Oh? Then what am I doing?” you asked as you got him to lean his weight against you so you could support him.

“You’re simply assisting me to my car.” He pointed in the direction he had left his car and the two of you began to walk toward it. Despite the situation, you were looking rather forward to seeing the batmobile in person. Who wouldn’t be? It was the freaking batmobile!

“That would technically be me sav…” 

“Do you usually walk down dark alleys?” he asked, cutting you off and changing the subject.

“No, and I was just going to continue walking, then I realised that voice I heard sounded rather familiar. So here we are. Again.” 

“Apparently so.”

You reached the batmobile and you helped him getting into it.

“How the hell are you going to drive in this state?” you questioned as he slumped against the driver’s seat and took a shaky breath.

“The car has auto-drive. I’ll be fine,” he assured you. “You should go home, it’s not safe around here. And thank you. Again.” 

“No problem. There better not be a third time though.” 

“Don’t worry, there won’t be.”

As he shut the door, you backed away from the batmobile, the entire time admiring the sleek black car that looked even cooler in person. The engine roared to life and you watched as the car sped off down the street and disappeared around the corner, before beginning to make your way back home.

As promised, you didn’t have to save him again. Batman did, however, end up repaying the favour when he swooped in and saved you from being mugged.

Much like the night you had helped in to his car, you had been walking home from work, when you were jumped by several men. They were the typical Gotham street thug. Big, muscular and not a full set of teeth between them. They had come out of nowhere and grabbed you, demanding any and all money and valuables you had on you. You had cried out, as loudly as you could to get someone’s, anyone’s, attention, that you didn’t have anything on you, which they, of course, didn’t like. Before anything could happen to you, there was a flutter of a cape and before you knew it, the thugs laid unconscious on the ground and Batman stood before you.

Batman had been quick to be by your side and checked you over for any physical injuries. He didn’t ask the dreaded question of “are you okay?” clearly knowing that no one would be okay after that. Once he was satisfied you didn’t need medical attention, he offered to drive you home, which you accepted.

You were catatonic the entire drive to your apartment. Your mind was slowly processing that that had really just happened and wouldn’t allow you to revel in the fact that you were currently sitting inside the batmobile.

When the car finally came to a stop, you finally broke down into tears. You buried your head into your hands and as your sobs racked your body, you felt a comforting hand come to rest on your back. You turned your body and wrapped your arms around Batman, who returned your embrace. He held you as close as the car would allow and repeated over and over again that he was there and you were safe now. After you had calmed down and released your grip on him, you dried your tears and thanked him.

After that night, throughout the rest of the year, you saw Batman far more than you would have ever expected. At first it started off as him just checking up on you, making sure you were okay after your near mugging. A part of you though was convinced it went deeper than that. Over time the two of you ended up somehow developing a friendship.

It was crazy to you to think that you could now class Batman as one of your friends. Not that you told anyone. Considering his enemies, being his friend really was the riskiest thing you had now done and the less people knew, the better and safer it was.

  
  


It was Christmas Eve and you were up on the roof of your apartment building. You were underneath an alcove, watching the snow fall while sipping on a mug of hot chocolate. Sitting next to you was your usually rooftop companion; Batman. Despite not knowing if he liked it or not, you had also brought a mug up for him and considering he had finished his long before you were even halfway done, you were guessing that yes. Batman did like hot chocolate.

There wasn’t much space under the alcove, so you were sitting rather close to each other. Not that you minded, even under all of your layers of warm clothing you were still cold and gladly accepted whatever warmth he could offer.

You were discussing your plans for tomorrow. Like the past couple of years, the plans you’d had had fallen through. Your parents had long since moved away from Gotham and this late in the month it was impossible for you to get a plane ticket that didn’t end up costing several limbs and both of your kidneys.

Batman was in a similar situation. The majority of his family were spread out across the globe this year doing various important (superhero) things. So for the first time in a long time it was just him and his life long friend.

“Well, at least you have someone to spend tomorrow with,” you said. “Which is nice, by the way. Nice to know that you won’t be alone.” You set your now empty mug on the ground and stretched. Sitting here for so long you were starting to feel a little stiff.

“You will be though.”

You waved him off. “I’ll be fine. Prefer to be alone anyway. No one to impress, you know?”

You didn’t have to look at him to know he was looking at you skeptically. He didn’t believe that you were fine being alone  _ again _ and, to be honest, there was a small part of you that agreed. But it wasn’t like there was anything you could do about it. 

“Y/N.” 

The sound of your name made you look at him. It was now you were beginning to realise just how close you were to each other. You wondered if Batman had noticed. If he had, he wasn’t making an effort to move away and neither were you. 

Whatever he had been about to say to you was long forgotten as his striking blue eyes briefly flickered down to your lips before looking back into your eyes. Then he was leaning in and you met him halfway. The kiss was soft and gentle, as were his lips, you pleasantly noted. One of his hands came to rest on your waist while the other cupped your jaw. Your own hands came to rest on his chest.

You parted breathlessly and rested your forehead against his. You opened your eyes into his and smiled at him. A smile that he returned. After a moment, he spoke.

“Do you trust me?” 

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” You didn’t hesitate in your immediate answer. Even if everything that had happened over the past year hadn’t and you were two strangers meeting for the first time right now, you’d trust him. To the law he was still a vigilante (not that they did anything about it), but in the eyes of almost everyone he was a superhero. There was no reason, that you could see, why you shouldn’t trust him.

“I just wanted to make sure. There’s something I wanted to show you.”

You accepted the hand he offered you and let him lead you toward the edge of the roof. He then wrapped an arm around your waist and skillfully got you two into the alley below, where the batmobile was already parked and waiting.

Now that you weren’t on the brink of a panic attack thanks to a bunch of thugs, you could truly enjoy the experience of sitting in the batmobile as it was driven. The dashboard had a screen in the center and was surrounded by buttons. You had already been asked not to touch any of them. Not that you would have anyway, despite the fact that you really did want to see what some of those buttons did. Instead you busied yourself with watching the city race by as the batmobile sped through the streets.

“So where are we going?” you eventually asked, breaking the long silence that had fallen over the two of you since he had told you he wanted to show you something.

“You’ll see when we get there.” Another silence fell between you, but it was quickly broken by Batman.

“Here,” he said as he pointed to one of the flashing buttons on the dash. “Press this one.” 

You did as he said and on the screen the words “turbo boast activated” appeared on the screen just before the batmobile suddenly began to pick up speed till it reached a speed that you was sure would break the sound barrier.

You laughed as you watched the grey blur of the city sped by. Now this was pretty damn cool! Soon the grey blur turned to green, letting you know that you had now left the city. Where exactly was Batman taking you?

Your question was soon answered as the batmobile eventually began to slow down and began to descend down into the earth. You didn’t have to be a genius to realise that Batman had brought you to the batcave.

The batmobile soon came to a stop on a platform and you barely heard a word he said as you unbuckled your seatbelt and got out of the car.

When you had imagined the batcave,  _ this  _ was certainly not what you had been expected. The place was covered in Christmas decorations. There was even a tree standing proudly in one of the corners. 

“Wow! Your life long friend do this?” you asked as you turned around to face Batman. His arms were crossed and he was leaning against the batmobile.

“He did. Do you like it?”

“It’s not what I was expecting, but yeah! This is pretty cool! But i’m guessing a Christmas decorated batcave isn’t why you brought me here?” 

“No, it isn’t,” he replied. “In the short time I’ve come to know you, Y/N, I’ve come to care for you quite a bit. I know I can trust you, which is important in this life.” he said as he pushed away from the batmobile and approached you. “Especially when it comes to my identity.” He stopped just before you.

“Wait! Are you sure about this?” you asked as he moved to take his cowl off. He smiled at you.

“Of course.”

He took of his cowl and, with the black paint that surrounded his eyes, it took you a moment to recognise who he was. Anyone who didn’t live underneath a rock knew who Bruce Wayne and now you knew his biggest secret. You had no idea what to say.

As you searched for the words, you reached up and cupped his face with both hands.

“Thank you for trusting me.” You leaned up and kissed him. Bruce kissed back and you heard the sound of the cowl clattering to the cave floor as his hands found your waist.

“I was thinking,” Bruce began after the kiss had ended. He held one of your hands in his and was softly rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb. “Why don’t you spend Christmas at the Manor? I can run back to your apartment and get you whatever you need and Alfred can set up a guest room for you.” 

“Bruce, that sounds lovely, but I really don’t want to impose…” 

“You’re not. And Alfred’s been dying to meet you anyway.”

“He has?”

Bruce nodded. “He has ever since he learned where I’ve been disappearing off to. Of course don’t feel like you have to! I’m not trying to force you. If you really want to spend tomorrow alone…” 

“Oh goodness no! I really don’t want to have to spend another year alone. I’d love to spend it with you and Alfred.” 

“I was really hoping you’d say that.”

As Bruce had said, he headed back to your apartment to get the things you needed while Alfred set up the guest room you were going to be using. Once he was done, you and Alfred sat at the kitchen table while you waited for Bruce to return.

Though you had just met, the older gentleman already seemed to be rather fond of you. He told you about how, over the past year, he had seen the man he had raised change for the better. How you brought about a sense of normalcy that he had never had before. And though he didn’t say it, you could tell that what the man hoped, whatever seemed to be slowly blossoming between you and Bruce would end up lasting.

Spending Christmas Day in Wayne Manor was something that really didn’t seem like reality and yet, it was. You were really here. Waking up in an extremely luxurious guest room.

Unlike the chaos you had grown used to when it came to the holidays spent with your family, this Christmas was far calmer and quieter. You suspected that it was a lot different, however, when the rest of Bruce’s family was about.

The day was of course started off with the opening of presents. With the last minute of everything, neither you or Bruce actually had a gift for each other. Which was fine. Getting to spend the day here with him and learn more about each other than your rooftop chats had allowed was enough.

The dinner that Alfred had prepared was absolutely delicious and was certainly one of the best, if not the best, you had ever had. You had attempted to try and help him with it, as you usually did at your parents, but he simply wouldn’t allow it. You were a guest and guests were to relax and enjoy their stay at the Manor. You also learned that since Bruce had nearly burned the place down a few years ago, he was banned from going anywhere near the kitchen.

At the end of the day, you and Bruce were in one of the lounges, in front of the lit fireplace, sipping on the hot chocolate that Alfred had made both of you before retiring to his room.

“I’ve had a great day, Bruce. Thank you,” you said, smiling at him.

“As have I, Y/N.”

“Who would’ve thought that me finding you unconscious and dying on my fire escape would’ve lead to this?” 

“Certainly not me,” he replied as he set his cup aside on the coffee table. “But I’m glad it did.” He took your own cup and set it alongside his before pulling you close and kissing you. You smiled into the kiss.

“Merry Christmas, Bruce.” 

“Merry Christmas, Y/N.” 


End file.
